Do You Endorse People You Don’t Know?

Since LinkedIn augmented its “Recommendations” with a new “Endorsement” format last fall, it has become really easy to click and endorse people’s skills. So much so, that I have received endorsements from people I have never worked with and have never met.

As a simple credibility building tool, the overall theory seems sound. People you are connected to just tick a box that says they think you have a certain skill. This creates two levels of credibility. A high score on a key industry skill marks you as an expert. And you look great to a prospect who recognizes one of the tiny endorsement faces. This should add significant weight to any LinkedIn marketing efforts. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Visual additions to your skills section don’t really prove anything.”

Anything that is so easy to do can also be easily abused. In a recent B2Community blog post, Jacob Curtis adds that, “Linkedin Endorsements have been received with mixed reviews because of how easy you can accumulate or trade them with your networks.”

Knowing this, how much value would you place on the endorsements you read?

What I find mind blowing is the sheer volume of endorsements made daily. According to an op-ed in Mashable, Todd Wasserman writes that “the product [endorsements] has been a huge success. LinkedIn says that there have been 550 million Endorsements so far and 10 million are given every day. That level of activity has doubtlessly boosted LinkedIn’s engagement metrics.”

Ten million endorsements made every day! Wow! Sounds impressive until you realize that some of it may be smoke and mirrors.

Do you endorse people you don’t know? Do people you don’t know endorse you? What do YOU think of LinkedIn endorsements now?